For Him, For Her, For Them
by periberi
Summary: Rinoa sees a picture of Squall and Quistis together. oneshot, Quistis/Squall


**For Him, For Her, For Them**

_Standard Disclaimer Applied._

_Thud_.

"Oh my, Rinoa! I'm so sorry, whew! I'm kind of hurrying off, you know, I have to give this to Irvine urgently, I'm so sorry! Well, I'm off now, catch ya later!"

Selphie sprinted off towards the opposite building, leaving Rinoa alone with her thoughts.

Rinoa blew a sigh. She was just calmly walking to nowhere, no specific place to go, until Selphie had accidentally bumped into her that she realized she wanted to rest.

"It's okay, Selphie," said Rinoa to no one in particular.

She turned around to find a nearby sitting place when something caught her eye.

A photograph.

"Selphie must have dropped it from all that hurrying." Bending down, she picked it up and took a glance at the photo.

And at this, she debated to herself whether that was really the right thing to do.

She strolled a little further, until she came by a bench and sat down. She felt relieved and refreshed after her walking exercise, but seemingly, a piece of glossy paper lying in her hands didn't give her the luxury to feel that for long.

That piece of paper. _A memory._

Despite the nagging feeling inside her, she closed her eyes briefly and summing up her courage, took the liberty to examine the picture in a closer angle.

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_It was a long time ago._

_I knew what we had wasn't made for eternity, and that the promise we had made, as all promises were conventionally defined, was meant to be broken._

_It had to be the closest feeling to pain I ever experienced. _

_But who would've thought really? Everybody was under the impression that our story was the greatest fairy tale ever told, and that if we wouldn't make it then nobody would. We were written in the stars, we're night and day, the black and the white and never the gray._

_That's what we all thought._

_Until that fateful day when a sudden mutual feeling burst inside of us, and we came to the conclusion that we're no longer happy with what we have._

_I'm missing one person in my life._

_And so does him._

_The first sparks of that unwanted emotions though never really bothered me and I purposely ignored it. I believed it was a test every couple must face, a test of your limits and of your love._

_And while I was conceived with that idea and that from time to time I tell myself that it is just what it is, a test, no need to panic, time brought us apart. He often went to missions, while I have nothing to do; he had no time for the world while the world gave me all the time I needed or did not. _

_As if everything was playing against us, **he **had to come into my life again and I was left with no choice but to deal with it. So, I did._

_I waited for a sign, any warning of any sort that will tell me what I had to do._

_To fight or to let go?_

_Believe me; I saw my warning on the most unexpected of them all._

_Rumors began to spread that the illustrious Instructor Quistis Trepe was being stalked again by an infamous Trepie. (But I really think this is old news.) As if it never happened before, we, as her friends, were all worried for her._

"_Really, it's not like I'm going to be kidnapped," Quistis stated as a matter- of-fact, dismissing all our qualms about the issue._

"_Quisty, I know that you are not given justice if your life is described without the words, '**stalkers, lot, Trepies**' in it, but well, you can't blame us if we feel this way! I mean, I don't want to—,"_

"_Hush."_

"_But Quisty--,"_

"_Selphie, she's right. Besides, she holds a whip. Just let them try."_

_I never knew what it had to do with me, you know, but the warning came from there and it led to a series of inevitable but it-needs-to-happen events._

_Selphie, obviously, was the most troubled among us. Maybe because she was the closest to her and treats her like a sister. Or she's also a hidden Trepie inside. _

_You really can't blame Quistis you know._

_Great beauty means great responsibility._

_So as resolution, Selphie forced Irvine to force Squall to make a move, him being the commander. Although I was thinking that it isn't among Squall's affairs anymore, I opted to shut my mouth. It was for the good of all. _

_No time and space for jealousy._

_After much persuasion and Hyne knows how much bribery just to convince him, it was decided that Quistis be given more missions just to keep her at bay…_

…_this equaled more time for Squall and Quistis together, and away from every possible disturbance. _

_Time has come for them._

_What the hell was I thinking?_

_That was the sign. And I'm sure of it._

_I broke it off before they went for their first mission together. Whenever I think about it, I don't truly consider my reasons to be rational enough for my decision to push through but then again I was sure of one thing._

_It was the right thing to do._

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Rinoa held the picture she had been staring into closer, as if it was never close enough. She sighed.

It was a long time ago, and six months have passed.

She leaned back and stared up at the sky. It was a mix of blue and white, reminding her of a beautiful sky she had looked up with someone that now belongs in her memory.

_Only a memory_.

There are no more regrets now; there should be no regrets ever. Letting go of everything they shared was possibly the closest feeling to pain Rinoa Heartilly ever experienced, wasn't the most rational thing to do but…

It was right.

Rinoa stood up and decided to find Seifer to brush away the unwelcome thoughts and to lift her spirits up. She was walking very much calmly still, to avoid any bumps along the way but to no avail.

This time, it was Quistis.

"Rinoa! I'm sorry; I wasn't really looking where I'm headed," said the blonde instructor with a smile and bent down to pick her things.

The sorceress decided to help her with what her doing but before doing so, she glanced at the beautiful picture she seized in her hand.

It was a picture of Quistis and Squall together, a candid and stolen shot probably taken from Selphie's camera (or video), and dated recently. It was nothing special really, with Quistis holding an open folder in her right hand, and Squall with his right hand peering at her right shoulder in an effort to look at it too. His left hand was positioned seemingly pointing at something on the file, and that gesture was enough to make it appear as if he was embracing her with an arm. Quistis' right arm was apparently smacking it away.

The extraordinary thing of that ordinary picture were the genuine smiles they both had, that even if it was only a mere photo, anybody looking at it would tell and feel it was real.

And for the fact that Squall Leonhart rarely smiled and he actually smiled, that's really extraordinary.

"Rinoa?"

"—uhh. I'm sorry Quisty, I was just…never mind. Here."

"What's this?"

Quistis raised one questioning eyebrow at the cheerful girl, who as if she never heard anything, turned around and headed to the direction she was really off to from the start.

At a distance, sorceress Rinoa Heartilly let herself a smile.

_A smile for him, for her, for them._

_**end**_

_A/N: Wow, I had nothing else to do so I wrote something random again. Reviews are greatly appreciated but please bear with me, I am a dilettante. But is a certified Quall fan (points to name). Thanks to everyone! Cheers!_


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